Category: Previews

2026 Singapore Grand Prix preview: Mercedes need answers, the FIA needs dry weather
The short version
- Round 17 is the final sprint weekend of 2026.
- George Russell, last year’s winner, starts Sunday’s race from the back after taking a fifth power unit. Kimi Antonelli leads him by 84 points and cannot clinch the title this weekend.
- The FIA says it has found the cause of Sepang’s software failure. Nothing new is planned for Singapore, and a further wet-weather update is due before Austin.
Mercedes: a penalty and a question

Mercedes were quickest in two of three practice sessions at Sepang, then lost their pace in qualifying. Deputy team principal Bradley Lord blamed a mix of the new upgrade, track temperature and surface. He said the drivers were on the throttle in slow corners, which hurt tyre temperatures. Marina Bay has plenty of slow corners.

Russell’s lap-50 retirement was a mechanical failure on the power unit side, Lord said, and the root cause is still unknown. The replacement is Russell’s fifth unit of the year, beyond the four-unit allocation, so he starts Sunday from the back of the grid.

Antonelli leads 320 points to 236. Singapore offers 33 per driver (eight for the sprint, 25 for the race), which is not enough to settle anything. The earliest he can clinch is the US Grand Prix on 25 October. Even then he would need to outscore Russell by at least 42 points across the two weekends, out of a maximum possible swing of 58. A long shot, but not a closed door.

What the FIA found at Sepang

The FIA’s review is complete. It blames a bug in the power unit software that limits electrical power around the lap. In the wet a 250kW reduction applies, and some cars running low revs in certain sectors lost more power than intended and could not recover it. That is how a formation lap became a car park. The FIA says it found the fault within minutes and sent teams a revised configuration during the red flag. It rejects the suggestion the code was never tested, saying it ran in simulation and in first practice at the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix. Whether a bug that sailed through those sessions counts as tested is a question for the philosophers.

For Singapore no further changes are planned. If it rains, cars revert to what reports call the Malaysia configuration, though they don’t say whether that means the original or the patched version. A further wet-weather update is due before the US Grand Prix.

The forecast is less settled than the software. There is chance of rain at 30% on Friday and 40% on Saturday and Sunday. Humidity could reach 83% at the start of the race. Weather forecasts in F1 are proving less reliable than the Aston Martins at this stage. Things could change.

Ferrari: a podium, a stall and noise upstairs

Lewis Hamilton’s third place was his first podium since Silverstone, and it followed a scare. His car stopped on the straight during the formation lap and had to be restarted. Ferrari still can’t explain why, and Fred Vasseur said on Sunday he had no clear answer. Ferrari are second on 405 points, 151 behind Mercedes.

The leadership story has not moved. Ferrari said on 29 September that it had made its choices and had full confidence in Vasseur. Hamilton said on 1 October that “there are also people above” the team principal, and Vasseur called his relationship with Benedetto Vigna and John Elkann a very good one. No change has been announced as of Thursday.

Red Bull and McLaren

Max Verstappen arrives with Red Bull Ford’s first win and first pole, level with Lando Norris on 188 points. Red Bull sit 18 behind McLaren in the constructors’ table. Singapore remains a gap on his record: four podiums, three of them second places, and no win.

McLaren concede the MCL40 may not suit Marina Bay’s slow 90-degree corners, and say the latest upgrade hasn’t delivered in Baku or Sepang. They did win here in 2024 and clinched last year’s constructors’ title at this race.

The circuit and the tyres

Marina Bay is 4.927km, with 19 corners and 62 laps, and Hamilton holds the lap record: 1:33.808, set last year. Every edition up to and including 2023 had at least one Safety Car, 24 deployments in total, but 2024 and 2025 had none. Russell won last year’s race from pole without one, so the old certainty has been downgraded to a tendency.

Pirelli bring the C3, C4 and C5 (hard, medium and soft) again and expect a one-stop to be the preferred strategy. The soft may get a look from more than one team on Sunday. With a single practice hour, the sprint is where teams will learn how it behaves.

Midfield

Team Points
Racing Bulls 90
Alpine 68
Haas 27
Audi 17
Williams 12
Aston Martin 7
Cadillac 0

Racing Bulls lead Alpine by 22 after Alpine failed to score at Sepang. Fernando Alonso’s eighth place there was Aston Martin’s best result of a difficult season and cut the gap to Williams to five points. Cadillac remain the only team without a point, though the sprint pays down to eighth, which gives the back of the grid a second chance this weekend.

Sepang showed what happens when everything that can go wrong does. Marina Bay, with its humidity, one practice hour and a sprint thrown in, is a decent venue for a rematch. Bring a towel.
October 8, 2026
2026 Bahrain Grand Prix Preview: Sakhir’s race, Sepang’s weather
The 22nd Bahrain Grand Prix will be held roughly 6,000km from Bahrain. The race was due at Sakhir on 12 April, but it and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix were scrapped after the outbreak of war with Iran made the Gulf unsafe for Formula 1. On 26 July, F1 and the FIA confirmed an agreement with the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia: the event would be revived at the Sepang International Circuit from 2–4 October, running as the “Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia” and slotting in as round 16 between Baku and Singapore.

Who pays

Bahrain keeps its race, and it keeps the bill. According to Sepang International Circuit CEO Azhan Shafriman Hanif, Bahrain is covering the F1 hosting fee, estimated at US$70–80 million. It also keeps all ticket revenue and sets ticket prices. Malaysia’s cost depends on who you ask. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim put it at RM16 million in track preparation. The circuit puts Malaysia’s share of local operating and preparation costs closer to RM40 million. Either figure is small next to the roughly RM300 million a year Malaysia estimates it would cost to run its own Grand Prix. That cost, along with falling ticket sales, is what pushed Sepang off the calendar after 2017.

What’s changed at Sepang

The 5.543km Hermann Tilke layout is the same one Formula 1 left behind. Sections were resurfaced in 2023, and more levelling work began in early September, but Pirelli says the surface behaves much like it did in 2017: abrasive, with little grip on Friday. The bigger change is the cars. In 2017 they ran on 13-inch wheels; the 2026 cars run on 18-inch rims and use active aerodynamics. The FIA has confirmed four Straight Mode zones: the start/finish straight, the back straight, the run out of Turn 3 and the run out of Turn 8. Pirelli is bringing the C2, C3 and C4 compounds, one step softer than the conservative choice.

Meanwhile, since 2017…
- Max Verstappen won the last race here, the day after his 20th birthday. He has since won four world titles.
- Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was 11 years old.
- Lewis Hamilton added three more titles and swapped silver for red.
- The halo arrived and made believers of its critics.
- Drive to Survive turned the paddock into a cast list.
- DRS came and went.
- Lando Norris became world champion, which some people still haven’t come to terms with.
The weekend: bring an umbrella, and maybe a calculator

Forecasts disagree. Friday is the most likely day for rain, with a 60–81% chance depending on the provider. Qualifying looks drier. For Sunday, estimates range from 30% to around 50% at lights out to 90%.

Formula 4 South East Asia is the only support series, so there will be little rubber laid down. This could also be the first properly wet running for the 2026 cars, which would mean energy management on a wet track in a humid 35°C-plus heat index. Sepang has history here: the 2009 race was red-flagged in a downpour and awarded half points..

The title fight

Antonelli leads Russell by 66 points, 302 to 236, with eight rounds left including this one. Russell’s recent run has been his best of the year:
- Monza: second, after a split-strategy call under the Virtual Safety Car handed the win to Antonelli.
- Madrid: fifth, which pushed the gap out to 81 points.
- Baku: pole position, then held off Verstappen by 0.196s for his third win of the season.
The momentum is real. The maths still favours the driver with eight wins.

McLaren’s pace is better than its points suggest. The team won in Hungary and Zandvoort, and at Monza Russell called them the team to beat. In Madrid, Norris was leading until the timing of the VSC and a slow stop dropped him to third. Baku was harder to explain. The upgrade package was held together with cable ties on Friday and the car was 1.4 seconds off the pace. By Saturday, Piastri had qualified third. He was running on the podium until he locked up at a restart and fell to 14th, and Norris was collected in the Alpine drivers’ collision. McLaren left with zero points.

Ferrari are second on 378 points but 160 behind Mercedes. Hamilton’s win in Barcelona remains the high point. Since then, Leclerc has taken fourth place twice while Hamilton has managed a brake failure and a sixth. Reports suggest even the latest power-unit upgrade hasn’t moved them forward. Fred Vasseur is contracted until the end of 2027, but PlanetF1, GPblog and Corriere della Sera all report that Ferrari’s leadership is planning his succession. Antonello Coletta, Jérôme d’Ambrosio and, inevitably, Christian Horner have been named. Ferrari has confirmed nothing.

The midfield

The midfield “battle” is really two separate fights

Racing Bulls lead Alpine by 15 points after Alpine’s drivers took each other out in Baku. Below that, Haas, Audi and Williams are separated by 15 points. In a rain-hit race, one lucky fourth place (12 points) would equal Williams’ entire season.

The verdict

Bahrain paid for it. Malaysia supplies the weather. None of the 22 drivers has raced this generation of car here, and half the grid has never raced here at all. Singapore is seven days later. Nobody should get comfortable.
September 30, 2026
F1 2022: Singapore Gp Preview – Asian Challenge Awaits

This weekend marks the first opportunity for Max Verstappen to win the 2022 drivers world championship.

While it is a mathematical possibility, the permutations though are a bit of a long shot. For Verstappen to claim his second title he would have to win the race, which is by no means an impossibility. But with a Verstappen win Charles Leclerc would have to be ninth or lower and Checo Perez fourth or lower (without fastest lap) for the title to be won. Singapore can often be an unpredictable place and coupled with Ferrari’s unreliability it isn’t an impossible permutation. Nevertheless, with all being equal and the Ferrari engine staying in one piece Verstappen’s title glory may not come in Singapore this weekend.

The South-East Asia venue, first introduced in 2008, has had its fair share of spectacles over the years. Who could forget the infamous crashgate scandal in which Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash to benefit then-teammate Fernando Alonso. It ended with a lifetime ban for team principal at the time, Flavio Briatore. But Alonso kept the win and celebrated it as such.

As the first ever night race on the F1 calendar the Marina Bay circuit is an amalgamation of medium to slow speed corners, interrupted by a lengthy start/finish strait. The proximity of the barriers in combination with one of the longest laps on the calendar and the stifling humidity and heat makes the Singapore Grand Prix one of the biggest mental and physical challenges of the year.

Seb Vettel has been the most successful driver around these parts with five wins in total. The last of those victories, and his last win to date, came in 2019 as a Ferrari driver. And unless something truly dramatic happens it’s unlikely that Vettel’s Aston Martin has the performance capability to put him anywhere near the front. Then again, the Singapore Grand Prix has seen a total of twenty-one safety car deployments since 2019.

The prevalence of the safety car means that quick thinking in terms of strategy could yield results. Mercedes, somewhat renowned for its efficient strategies, should be primed then to take advantage of any such opportunities. While it refrains to be seen how the Merc performs on the Singapore streets, the team seems confident that it will be able to compete. The performance on other street tracks this year, like Miami, Baku, and Monaco, were quite dreadful but as the season has progressed so too the Merc engineers have begun to understand how to get the most out of the car. But it remains a big ‘if’ for Hamilton and/or Russell to push for the top step of the podium.

September 22, 2022
F1 2022: French Gp Preview – Vive la France?

Formula 1 heads to the circuit with acres of tarmac run-off but, sadly, not much as entertainment. The Paul Ricard circuit in France has, to put it mildly, not delivered the most memorable or exciting race since its re-introduction to the F1 calendar.

The circuit is more of a purpose-built test track than it is a racing circuit. Nevertheless, it has a spot as a 2022 race and brings with it another opportunity to score points. In terms of pace there is little to choose between Red Bull and Ferrari. However, what has separated the two teams is reliability. Whereas Red Bull suffered some failures in the opening part of the season the mechanical gremlins have continued to plague Ferrari. While Charles Leclerc did win in Austria he not only did so while managing a throttle issue but also with the knowledge that teammate Carlos Sainz’s race had ended a literal fireball. In fact, so prevalent has Ferrari’s reliability issues been that the win in Austria was Leclerc’s first since the Australian grand prix in early April. Ferrari has the pace to trouble Red Bull as shown throughout the season. Add to this that Italian team also seems to be kinder to its tyres, as proven in Austria, and the fact that Leclerc is more than capable to taking the fight to Verstappen and you have the makings of an epic championship fight. It remains to be seen however how much Ferrari can rectify, or at least, mitigate the reliability woes.

The Paul Ricard circuit is never going to be at the top of most people’s list when ticking off favourite racetracks. But Mercedes is not going to be too unhappy with going to Le Castellet this weekend. Like Austria and Silverstone this circuit too has a fairly smooth surface. And based on recent races the Mercedes excels on track surfaces such as this. The picture could’ve been slightly better for Mercedes in Austria if they’d had a cleaner weekend, read crashes in quali, but what was noticeable is that even in conditions that alleviate some the W13’s Hamilton was still well off the fastest pace. There’s no doubt though that they’re set for a good weekend in France, barring crashes or unreliability. The question is whether it will be good enough to challenge either Ferrari or Red Bull.

The mid-field battle in 2022 has been a sight to behold. At several points during the last race in Austria there were four cars abreast, fighting tooth and nail for positions. And that, throughout the race. There is no denying that in the last few races Mick Schumacher has come into himself and is driving beautifully. The test for him now is to maintain his form and prove his ability to consistently score points, should the car allow for it.

It hasn’t been quite the season that Pierre Gasly would’ve been expecting after the highs of the last few seasons. The Alpha Tauri is not in-tune with the new regulations, and it shows in the fact Gasly finds himself in 13^th place in the driver’s standings with a paltry 16 points to his name. There’s an opportunity for him, on home soil, to deliver something worth mentioning. Surely, if a driver can perform better anywhere it is at his home race.

It’s a home race too for Esteban Ocon. The Alpine driver deserves to be mentioned far more than he has. His teammate Fernando Alonso has been vaunted and highly praised for his driving prowess, and rightly so. But Ocon is quietly showing the two-time champion the way with nearly double his points tally of 52 to Alonso’s 29. To regularly be beating someone of Alonso’s caliber is no small thing.

The much-maligned Paul Ricard circuit has received its fair share of criticism for being nothing more than a damp squib. But let’s err or the side of optimism and pin the hopes on the new 2022 cars and the expectation that it just might deliver a French grand prix to remember.

July 19, 2022
F1 2022: Azerbaijan Gp Preview – Redemption for Ferrari?

The Baku City circuit doesn’t have an especially long history on the Formula 1 calendar but it has a colourful one. First introduced in 2016 the track, situated on the coast of the Dead Sea has, every year, delivered races filled with drama and unpredictability second to none.

The 2017 race in particular was blighted by several safety car periods and a red flag. But this was not the drama the 2017 edition of this race will be forever known for. Instead, it will be remembered for the Vettel/Hamilton clash under the safety car. Vettel accused Hamilton, over team radio, of brake testing him which prompted the then Ferrari driver to pull up alongside the Mercedes and nudge into the side of him. It didn’t stop with Vettel being penalized either. Hamilton would lose the lead due to a loose headrest which gifted the win to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. In 2018 will be remembered for Red Bull teammates Ricciardo and Verstappen taking each other out of the race while the 2019 Gp was fairly tame by these standards. The 2021, back after a Covid break in 2020, was the race of tyre failures as both Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen suffered dramatic tyre blowouts at top speed. It left Checo Perez to pick up the pieces and take only the second win of his career.

Another year on the F1 paddock arrives in Azerbaijan with a completely different complexion to it. Not least of a because of the brand-new cars. Perez most likely arrives in the best place and frame of mind possible. Not only is he fresh off a win on the streets of Monaco but he also has a shiny two-year Red Bull contract in his back pocket. It’s good news for Red Bull as they’ve finally found a driver capable of consistently performing at the sharp end. And Checo certainly wouldn’t be a bad bet for this weekend either. Baku has been a happy hunting ground for the Mexican who has a couple of podiums along with a win on this track.

Ferrari will be looking for some redemption too. Here in 2019 Charles Leclerc crashed in qualifying on his way to pole. He made up for it last year by snatching an unlikely pole. But Ferrari, and Leclerc himself, have make a few mistakes in the last few races. They’re giving away points for Red Bull that they can ill afford to lose. There is very little doubt that the 2022 Ferrari will be competitive this weekend. The question is rather if Ferrari can put together an entire weekend without mistakes on track or on the pitwall.

If Ferrari are assumed to be in the mix this weekend it means that Red Bull will not be far behind. The same though cannot be said for Mercedes. Although there was minor improvement in Spain the form in Monaco was fairly mediocre in comparison to the leaders. Still Lewis Hamilton seems to struggling the most with the W13 as he continues to be outperformed by new teammate George Russell. The long straits of Baku, similar in part to Jeddah, are unlikely to be kind to the Merc either. If they get their respective setups in the sweet spot, the likes of McLaren and Alpine may be a big headache for Mercedes this weekend.

June 7, 2022
F1 2022: Miami Gp Preview – America to the fore

In the 21st century there have been many new circuits and venues added to the F1 calendar. From India to South Korea to Singapore to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But still the American market and F1’s popularity in the States remained limited. That is until Liberty Media took over the sport’s commercial interests and, possibly, the creation of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series. As it stands now the US is set to host three grands prix from 2023 including this weekend’s race in Miami.

The Formula 1 paddock’s trip to Miami promises to be an American-driven spectacle. The circuit, named the Miami International Autodrome, is set at 5.4 km with a total of 19 corners and is situated in the center of the Sunshine State’s sporting heart. The Hard Rock stadium, which has hosted two Baseball World Series and six NFL Superbowls, is the focal point of a track that organizers hope will encourage “great racing and overtaking opportunities”.

In addition to also being the site of the Miami Open tennis tournament, F1’s arrival has clearly energized the fans as tickets for the event are selling out at record pace. But what of the circuit and its layout? With three long straits it could mean three DRS zones and the chance to see overtaking on a street track. Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, after testing the circuit on the simulator, thinks that “it looks pretty awesome. I really liked the layout. Quite a lot of high-speed content, quite challenging, unusual type of corners, extremely long corners, very long”.

Ferrari and Red Bull arrive as expected favourites to a circuit that should reward those that have been able to limit porpoising. For Mercedes it might yet be another difficult weekend. Andrew Shovlin, Merc’s Trackside Engineering director, believes they’ll have to chip away at the problems rather than expect a sudden turnaround in form. Nevertheless, the team are expected to bring some new bits and pieces to the car this weekend which they hope will begin to move them in the right direction.

It’s an opportunity too for Haas to showcase their progress on home soil. Drafted in at the last moment Kevin Magnussen has, to date, shone in the 2022 car. It’s about time then that young Mick Schumacher up his game and score his first F1 points. Otherwise, the former F2 champion runs the risk of becoming an also-ran and could very well be under pressure to maintain his seat.

The semi street track will also be a good barometer of how much progress McLaren has made since a dreadful opening two rounds in Bahrain and Jeddah. There may well be a good chance of seeing Lando Norris well up the grid on Sunday.

At 11, no country has hosted F1 at more venues in the same country than America. It’s an ambitious project to transform downtown Miami into a truly global sporting mecca.

May 5, 2022
F1 2022: Imola Gp Preview – Ferrari-run to continue?

As the third round of the season beckons Ferrari are the team to beat. But the story of 2022 is far from written. Nevertheless, most would rather be in Charles Leclerc’s position than not.

The Ferrari driver sits atop the driver’s standings with an impressive 71 points. In Australia the Ferrari stretched its legs both in terms of pace and tyre management. It might be that the Albert Park circuit, always considered an outlier, played to the Ferrari’s strengths but it was quick, in Leclerc’s hands, in Bahrain too.

Red Bull’s reliability woes, seemingly centered around the fuel system, and the pace deficit to Ferrari in Australia, will ring some alarm bells in Milton Keynes. Verstappen currently sits xx points behind the championship leader and has said there is no use in thinking of a title fight before the issues around reliability are solved. There’s no doubt that Red Bull have a quick car, but it is an edgy one too. It looks to have a narrower operating window than the Ferrari and, as such, finding a happy balance appears a bit trickier.

Mercedes too remains on the back-foot. The porpoising (bouncing) issue is a serious one. Unlike Ferrari, who also experience severe porpoising, the Merc doesn’t settle down as the speed bleeds off and this forces all sorts of aero, and other, compromises which has an overall detrimental impact on lap time. But if the team can find a solution to the issue the Merc clearly has some pace in it. It’s just a matter of how soon the issues can be resolved.

Believe it or not all of this is good news. It means that F1 2022 is not going to be predictable by any means. The new cars are temperamental and not easy to predict from one circuit to the next. The days of teams having terabytes of data on performance and setups are gone. They’ve been replaced by an unpredictability that has infused the season with a genuine curiosity. And if Red Bull and Merc can, consistently, join in the battle it will amplify the spectacle to even greater heights. There is even the possibility of teams such as Alpine and McLaren hitting the sweet spot on any given Sunday and sticking their noses in.

Imola was parachuted into the calendar as a stopgap during the worst of the global covid pandemic. It proved so popular amongst fans and drivers though that it has since maintained its place on the roster. The circuit, located in San Marino, is one steeped with both tragedy and the memory of incredible racing. It is here of course that Ayrton Senna fatally crashed in 1994. But it is here too that a young Fernando Alonso withstood a barrage of pressure from 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher in the closing stages of the 2005 grand prix. Amazingly the same Fernando Alonso lines up on the grid this weekend while Mick represents the Schumacher name for Haas.

This weekend’s race will follow the sprint race format which means a one-hour practice session on Friday followed by qualifying on Friday afternoon (17:00 SA time). Saturday is reserved for the second free-practice session and the Sprint race (16:30 SA time) while the grand prix remains on Sunday with a start-time of 15:00 SA time.

April 20, 2022
F1 2022: Australian Gp Preview – Down Under Once More

Only two of the twenty-three scheduled races of 2022 have been run so far. But what we have learnt from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is likely to characterize the first portion of the season. Ferrari has clearly delivered a car capable of producing peak pace for qualifying and one that is more than capable of delivering long-run pace that is not only competitive but puts them in a position to win races. Red Bull too seems to have produced a car that is capable of winning but is perhaps not yet able to deliver the one-lap quali pace as easily as Ferrari.

When there is a major rule change there is always the potential for the pecking order to be re-arranged. But few would have expected Mercedes to stumble early on. After all, the German mark has won a staggering eight constructor’s titles in a row. But fundamental change can catch out even the very best. Bahrain and Saudi exposed some serious deficiencies in the W13 Mercedes. Not only is it still struggling to get a handle on the porpoising (bouncing) at high speed, but aerodynamically the car also seems to be on the draggier end of the scale. Speaking of scales, the Merc is also one of the heaviest cars on the grid, which is not helped by the engine. From the first two rounds of the season, and comparison of speed-trap figures it’s clear that the Merc engine is lacking in comparison to the Ferrari and Red Bull-badged Honda. And heck if numbers isn’t your thing have a gander at the quali results and notice that Merc-engined cars are dominating the bottom-half of the grid.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff remains as bullish as ever and promises that the team will not rest until it finds its way back to the front of the pack. The question remains how long this recovery will take, and will it be in time for the team to be in the mix for the titles? This weekend there may be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for Mercedes. Formula 1 returns to race in Australia for the first time since 2019. The Albert Park circuit is an outlier on the calendar, a unique semi-street track that combines medium to higher-speed turns and rewards good braking performance.

It is a circuit that has the potential to mask some deficiencies in a car. Missing some k’s on the top-end? This is not much of a problem here as the circuit has a relatively short start/finish strait. Unfortunately, the turn 9 and 10 chicane has been removed which has transformed this sector of the track into a 1.3 km long blast at full throttle. The good news is that several of the corners (read turns 1,3, and 6) have been made broader to encourage more overtaking. All in all, the changes to the track is expected to drop the lap time by an estimated five seconds.

It isn’t exactly a bold suggestion to postulate that Ferrari and Red Bull are likely to duke it out for pole and the win. But already the narrative of Verstappen versus Leclerc is being woven. What then of Carlos Sainz? If Ferrari maintains their competitiveness throughout the season this is the Spaniard’s most important season. Sainz was a match for Leclerc in 2021 but it wasn’t under the guise of championship battle and the colossally unremitting pressure which accompanies it. This will reveal if Sainz is champion-material or not.

For Hamilton and George Russell things should go better than it did in Saudi. But then it could hardly be worse than a Q1 knock-out.

April 5, 2022
F1 2022: Red Bull? Ferrari? Mercedes?

The wait for the start of F1 2022 is over. This weekend the season-opening race in Bahrain brings with it the start to a whole new era in the storied saga of Formula 1.

The new regulations have produced not only a completely different visual aspect to F1 but has showcased some of the brilliant engineering and design prowess up and down the paddock. From McLaren’s wavy floor to Ferrari’s scooped side pods to Mercedes seemingly complete lack of side pods the innovation has been cranked to the max.

The three days of public testing around the Sakhir International circuit has revealed at least some of what the picture could look like at the start of the season. The mid-field battle promises to be exceptionally tight with the likes of McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpine, and Alpha Tauri expected to occupy this space.

Williams looks in fairly good shape, relatively speaking, with Haas and Alfa Romeo expected to bring up the rear. For Haas it certainly hasn’t been a straightforward pre-season. First, their equipment and freight were delayed from arriving to Bahrain in time due to a broken-down plane. Then their title sponsor and one driver were removed from the team, which left them with the task of quickly finding a replacement. Although Pietro Fittipaldi, as reserve driver, seemed to be the most obvious choice Haas opted for experience instead and drafted Kevin Magnussen back into the team. The Danish driver brings with him a decent pedigree of being able to get the most out of a car and will be a good barometer for teammate Mick Schumacher.

What then of the top three. There are some who agree that Mercedes starts the season not as outright favourites. In fact, some have penned them down as in third place behind Red Bull and Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton himself has declared Mercedes as not in a position to win races. But we’ve read this chapter before, haven’t we? Mercedes downplays their chances and sandbag on track only to show up at race one and blitz the field. But there may be some truth to Sir Hamilton’s words. Firstly, the porpoising which Red Bull and Ferrari are appearing to manage is still a major problem at Merc. So much of an issue is the porpoising that Merc have taken to sawing off some underfloor strakes in a bid to change the air flow distribution not only on the forward section of the car but also into the underfloor and the rear diffuser. The front-wing angle has also been significantly altered to combat the understeer that has been plaguing the W13 throughout testing.

But Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are not buying the line that Mercedes are struggling. Both point out that the Silver Arrows have made a habit of underplaying their position before the season starts. And despite an apparent consensus amongst the pundits in the paddock that Hamilton and co might not be the quickest the fact remains that only time will tell, literally.

Ferrari starts the season in the best shape they’ve been in for a few years. Without any reliability issues the car has run smoothly, and importantly, it’s been quick in both Charles Leclerc and Sainz’s hands. Yet team principal Mattia Binotto is remaining cautious by insisting that the Italian team remain “outsiders” behind Red Bull and McLaren.

On the final day of testing Red Bull bolted a serious upgrade package to its car and it went quite a bit faster, 7 tenths faster than anything Ferrari could manage. But headline times in testing are just that. It’s only in Q3 on Saturday where everyone’s hand will finally be shown. And as it stands right now it looks as if Red Bull and Max Verstappen are holding all the cards.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 14, 2022
F1 2021: Saudi Arabia Gp Preview – Into the Mix

In 2021 Formula 1 has served up what is easily going to be one of the most memorable seasons in the last two decades. With breath-taking racing on-track F1 and commercial rights holder, Liberty Media, has also taken F1 to venues that have never before formed part of the calendar. Some of those venues, over the last two years, have produced inspired racing while other additions have raised some eyebrows.

There will be no beating around the proverbial bush in acknowledging that this weekend’s race in Saudi Arabia is a controversial addition to the calendar. The vociferous debate around Saudi Arabia’s human rights, and women’s rights, are, arguably, the most prominent issues within which there exists stern opposition. These issues are as pressing and vital to address as any other. But the reality is that it is not only Saudi Arabia which is a controversial venue for F1. Countries such as Bahrain, Russia, Hungary, even China continue to form part of the calendar despite their own questionable approaches to human rights and equality. Stefano Domenicalli, group CEO of F1, has stated that his hope that is to stimulate a conversation around these issues by bringing a global sport to these countries.

In the meantime, the show will go on around what is being billed at the world’s fastest street circuit. As the second longest track on the 2021 calendar the Jeddah Corniche circuit’s 6.175 km will three DRS zones and run for a total of 50 laps in Sunday’s race. The track, divided into a hefty 27 turns, is a high-speed rollercoaster through the floodlit streets on the shores of the Red Sea. Due to its flowing, high-speed nature most of the corners are likely to be driven at full throttle with an estimated top speed being set at 322 kph. To illustrate the high-speed nature of this circuit computer simulations put the average speed of a lap around 252 kph.

It begs the question then as to whether this track will suit Mercedes or Ferrari? Throughout the season high-speed circuit have been the bread-and-butter of Mercedes. What’s more, Mercedes is also expected to fit Hamilton’s fresh Brazil engine to his car. This will undoubtedly give Hamilton an advantage in terms of horse power. Couple this with Mercedes’ and Hamilton’s form over the last few race weekends and you have yourself a team and driver sitting somewhat pretty. Nevertheless, if anything is known of Max Verstappen and Red Bull it is they won’t go quietly, if at all. After all, one of the biggest flubs of this entire season has been believing that one track will suit either Mercedes or Red Bull only to show up and be proven categorically wrong. Circuit designer Herman Tilke believes that a powerful engine would help but that the fast corners could give Red Bull the advantage. But comments and computer simulations are just that – speculation. And as the stop watch never lies it’s only on-track on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that will reveal the truth of each car and driver’s performance.

As it stands Max Verstappen will start the weekend with an eight-point lead over Lewis Hamilton. Mathematically, Verstappen could clinch the title this weekend. However, unlikely this permutation is what we have learned from F1 2021 is not to rule out anything. Nevertheless, it remains a fairly unlikely outcome. And should Hamilton win, and score an extra point for fastest lap, with Verstappen in second place it will move the championship fight on to Abu Dhabi with both drivers equal on points. Spicy indeed.

November 29, 2021